Message from John T. Chambers, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

The Cisco Global Supplier Diversity Business Development (GSDBD) Program is integral to our continued success. We recognize that supplier diversity not only makes good business sense, but that it is a business imperative in order to maintain our leadership position in the IT industry.

GSDBD reinforces Cisco's commitment to the economic empowerment within the community, stimulating economic growth worldwide. At Cisco, connecting customers, suppliers and communities is a key element of this program. Meeting our customer’s supplier diversity requirements is directly related to having an inclusive group of diverse suppliers that reflect the evolving demographics. Suppliers with different backgrounds, with a variety of viewpoints and styles of interacting, combined with their experiences help us understand and meet the needs of our customers. The utilization of diverse suppliers creates economic vitality in the communities in which we work, live, play and learn.

Our goal is to be recognized as a leader in supplier diversity and as a partner with the best suppliers. Moving forward Cisco plans to expand its supplier diversity efforts further into our supply chain as well as internationally. We at Cisco want to hear your feedback as to how we can best meet and exceed these goals.